


Marie Investigates

by Hunter_Hikari



Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, Minor Original Character(s), Past Character Death, marie's pov this time woo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-01-16 09:22:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18518533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hunter_Hikari/pseuds/Hunter_Hikari
Summary: Weird how little you can know about a person, even when you've known them for so long.(A sequel to Crush #69)





	1. Chapter 1

I look up from my 3DS and over at 4, who has her face in her laptop. Sorry, Ydelin. It still feels kinda weird to call her that.

 

We’re just hanging out together. Nothing special or fancy, not really a date. Just chilling. It’s what she’s most comfortable with, and I don’t have to dress nice, so no complaints here.

 

“Something on your mind?”

 

“Yeah. You.”

 

I see a bit of a flush come to her face. Cute.

 

“What’s with the sourpuss face, then?”

 

“It’s weird. Like… I know you. I know who you are and what you’re like and all that. The important stuff. But it only occured to me recently that I really don’t know anything about, like, your past or whatever.”

 

“Well, sorry to disappoint, but it’s not all that interesting. And I don’t remember a lot from before I was, like, 5 or so. But if you wanna know, I guess I could tell you.”

 

“Go ahead. Got nothin better to do.”

 

“Alright. So… I’ve lived around here ever since I was little. With Katchy.”

 

“Katchy?”

 

“Yeah, Katchy. He was sorta like a dad. He works dead shift, so we didn’t really get to talk all that much, but he let me stay in his place till I could get my own.”

 

“So… you were homeless before that?”

 

“I guess so. I don’t remember. I went to public school like any other kid under his name. Let’s see, what else… I didn’t get control till I was 16 or so. And I didn’t have any time to stay up with trends or whatever because I was always working or studying. After I graduated, I applied for a Turf Pass. And I came to the Square for my first matches, and that’s when I met you. And that brings you up to speed.”

 

“... Katchy, huh?”

 

“Yeah. When I was little, I couldn’t get his name right, so it was Katchy.”

 

“What’s it short for?”

 

“Uh… Katchadorian, if I remember right.”

 

“Was he a family friend or something?”

 

“Nope, he found me scrounging through the trash behind a MakoMart looking for food.”

 

“... Yeah, that sounds like you.”

 

“I… never knew my family. I don’t even know what my last name is. Katchy was there for me if I needed, like, help or advice. But I really mostly took care of myself.”

 

“That’s… really sad.”

 

“Is it?”

 

I guess she doesn’t get it. Don’t really know what you have until you lose it, but if you never had it in the first place…

 

‘I know you and Callie are best friends… is that what a family is like?”

 

“Hmm. It’s a difficult question. It’s different for everyone, really. Cal’s like a sister to me, and Gramps… well, you know him. Just a general hoot to be around. You haven’t really lived till you’ve sat down and listened to his stories.”

 

“Eight told me that he told her about the time he mixed a Daiquiri with motor oil, passed out, and woke up with more money than he had before.”

 

“Classic Gramps.”

 

“Hey, Three calls him that too. You’re not… actually related, are you?”

 

“She does? News to me.”

 

4 just shrugs and looks back down at her screen. It’s not that she’s blowing me off, it’s just that she’s out of things to say. It’s like an Animal Crossing villager, you talk to her too much and she goes totally blank for a few minutes. I let her take her time to recharge.

 

[agent.2: yo]

 

[ca11ie: sup? thought you were with 4]

 

[agent.2: i am. need you two to look into sumn for me]

 

[ca11ie: oooh]

 

[SANGO: whatcha got]

 

[agent.2: last name katchadorian. lived near the square at some point. worked dead shift at makomart.]

 

[ca11ie: how the heck did this come up with 4?]

 

[agent.2: apparently he was her guardian or smth, idk]

 

[ca11ie: oooh deep agent 4 lore]

 

[agent.2: agent lore]

 

I wait for Three to do her stuff. She’s the expert with this kind of thing. In the meantime, I glance out the glass door of the balcony at the birds flying by. Every so often some kid jumping to the Square would rocket through the sky and interrupt the pigeons.

 

[SANGO: hows this]   
  
A picture, full name, birthdate, address, and even a resumé. Nice work, Three.

 

Let’s see. Rafaél Katchadorian. 36, a Gemini. An address pretty close to here, and, yep, he worked at a MakoMart. Bingo.

 

“Four?”

 

“What’s up?”

 

“I’m gonna head out, okay?”

 

“Oh, okay.”

 

“Thanks for today. It was fun.”

 

I lean down and give her a peck on the cheek, to which her entire face turns pink. Cutie.

 

We say our goodbyes, and I leave. On a mission. It’s time for a little investigation.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these chapters are kinda short but im just splitting em up how i think they make sense asdhjhsdj

Well, this is the place. At least, it’s the address I got. I adjust the surgical mask covering my face, take a deep breath, and knock.

 

A slightly disgruntled looking man with messy hair and dressed in old, wrinkled, clothes answered the door. Looks like I woke him up. Still, he makes an effort to be polite.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I was hoping to speak with you. Do you have time?”   
  
“... Yeah. Not sure what you want with me of all people. C’mon in.”

 

He directs me to a sofa and plops down next to me.

 

“So. How can I help ya?”

 

“It’s about Ydelin.”

 

“Lindy? If you’re looking for her, she moved out months ago. Don’t know where she went.”

 

“No, that’s not it.”

  
  
  


“Her background? Don’t really know much. Found her digging in our trash cans, emaciated on the street, just 3 years old. I let her stay with me for a few days, and then it became years. She was always a sweet kid, never caused any trouble for me. Always worked and studied hard. A month or so after she moved out of here, I got a check written for exactly how much she’d costed me over the last 15 years. Real sweet of her.”

 

“Right, right. But… what about before that?”

 

“Don’t know. She was an amnesiac.”

 

Oh.  _ Ohhhh.  _ That explains a lot.

 

“If you’re really curious… I saw some missing posters go up a few months after Megalodon Shiver knocked that train off the tracks. They were looking for an ‘Alice’. She looked like Lindy, but she said it wasn’t her.”

 

The plot thickens.

 

[agent.2: new mission for ya 3.]


	3. Chapter 3

[SANGO: got it.]

 

[agent.2: rad. whatd ya find?]

 

[SANGO: “Megalodon Shiver knocked a St. Marine-bound train off of its tracks, killing about forty passengers and injuring eighty. This attack occurred over 10 years ago, and there is still no trace of a child who was seriously injured in the resulting crash. Witnessed with a young couple who did not survive the attack, the child is assumed to have suffered retrograde amnesia and serious brain damage. However, the child fled the scene of the crime and has not been seen since. If you have any information about the whereabouts of Alice Mahasmutr, contact the Missing Persons Bureau immediately."]

 

Christ.

 

Then she sent a picture.

 

[SANGO: this is supposed to be an age-progressed version of the missing kid]

 

I pull up the picture.

 

A shiver goes down my back.

 

It looks almost just like her. Well, almost. She has a little scar on her head that the picture doesn't have. But I know how she got that. From Octo Canyon. Obviously it wouldn't have that in the picture.

 

Everything comes together like a jigsaw puzzle of bad feelings. Her family was killed. She got brain damage in the crash and forgot it all, _or_ she knows and she's lying to me. She went on like nothing ever happened. She got someone to take her in and worked her ass off to pay him back even on top of all the shit she put up with in school. And now she's here.

  
  


"A picture of 4? Wait, no, it's… I don't know who that is."

 

"Ah! Oh, it's just you."

 

"Did I spook ya? Whoops."

 

"You just caught me off guard."

 

"So what's with the not-quite-Agent-4?"

 

Of course! Callie has an eye for these things. I pull up an actual picture of her next to it.

 

"Spot the difference."

 

She leans in real close.

 

"Lemme see… 4 has freckles on her nose, she doesn't. And I've never seen 4 even touch makeup, so I doubt it's concealer. The little scar she got in Octo Canyon isn't there, her nose is smaller than that, her face is generally a little more of a heart shape, and… not to be disrespectful, but she's waaaay skinnier in the fake one."

 

"Dang. Thanks, Cal."

 

"Seriously though, what's with that."

 

"It's an age-progressed photo."

 

"Oh my cod you have 4's baby pictures?!"

 

"Er, not quite."

  
  


"... Wow."

 

"Yeah."

 

"Poor thing…"

 

"But… what do I do now?"


	4. Chapter 4

I stare down at my feet, swinging my legs back and forth.

 

"Found some."  


"Thanks, Three. You're a big help."

 

"Mm."

 

She sits down across from me at the table and spreads out a bunch of newspaper clippings, magazines, and even tattered posters in plastic sleeves. We'd met at the library in the middle of the city to see what else we could find.

 

"Oh boy, where do I even start with this?"  


I pick up a poster, very clearly labelled "MISSING" across the top. The picture is of a considerably younger looking 4, with the same aged up photograph next to it. Looking at a young 4 is… surreal. Like looking at old pictures of Gramps. It just doesn't look like her. But… she looks happy.

 

"Apparently they found that in the mother's wallet."

 

"... Right."

 

I went through every story one at a time. Nobody had seen or heard from Alice since the accident. Not a single clue was found, and she was presumed to have left the scene in a panic and died from the head trauma some time later. The police have all but closed the case now that Megalodon Shiver is no longer an issue. She's the only one who's gone missing like this. MS took no hostages. But one thing kept bugging me.

 

"All of these say there were witnesses who survived the crash, right?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"Do we… know who any of them are?"

 

"The articles don't say. They're not allowed to give out that kind of information. But…"

 

"But?"

 

"I might know."

  
  


Honestly never thought I'd be in Inkopolis General's injury ward again now that Callie's got a stuntwoman for her movies. But here I am. On a wild manhunt for my girlfriend's past self.

 

"Aunt Mali?"

 

"Is that… Cephani? Oh, darling, look at you… all grown up…"

 

Three gets a bit of a flush to her face.

 

"Marie, this is Khun Mali. She's also from St. Marine. And… an old family friend."

 

"Sweet of you to still visit me, darling. Even like this…"

 

Dear cod, this poor woman. She's got all manner of IVs and tubes attached to her, and it looks like her right arm is amputated at the elbow. She reaches up with her left hand to give Three a little pat on the head and smiles. For someone in such critical condition, she seems oddly at peace.

 

"Are you doing better?"

 

"Yes, a little~ We still doubt I'll be able to leave… but I've been walking myself for a while now."

 

"Good, good."

 

I never really get to see Three's empathetic side. It's… strange. Comforting, but strange.

 

"How are your parents, darling? Still back at home?"

 

"Yeah."

 

Three pulls her phone out of her pocket and shows Mali something that makes her smile.

 

"They look exactly the same as they did 5 years ago."

 

"They… sure do."

 

I never really thought about Three having a family. It kinda just seems like she appeared one day and suddenly Gramps had a third grandkid. Hmm.

 

"Your friend here…"

 

"Right. She has a few questions for you. Go ahead, Marie."

 

Shit. I have to be tactful here.

 

"Ma'am, we're… we're looking for Alice Mahasmutr."

 

She nods knowingly.

 

"Go ahead. Ask me anything you'd like."

 

"Could you… tell us about what you saw that day?"

 

And she began to reconstruct the scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for dying suddenly whoops  
> also sorry for starting 3 fics! at once! because! i want to start a fucking new one!  
> god fucking shit dammit my single monkey braincell is NOT cooperating with me


	5. Chapter 5

"Alice, dear, sit down while the train's moving, alright?"

 

"Aww… okay."

 

"Did you have fun today?"

 

"Mhmm! I liked the biiiig tower they're building over there!"

 

"Who knows, maybe you'll go back there someday. Play in those sports just like the big kids on TV."

 

"Woooooow… you really think I could do that?"

 

"Sure you can. We'll be glad to take you back there when you're older."

 

"Awesome!"

 

It was all fine. Perfectly fine. We were going back to St. Marine.

  
  
  


It was all okay. Just for a moment.

  
  


The sound of an explosion. Screaming. Confused, panicked screams. The train car tipped over, and the two could barely keep their footing. The father was killed by the impact. His corpse fell down, and the mother shrieked in horror.

 

"M-mom? Wh-what's going on?!"

 

Blood splashed from an unknown source. Gas began to fill the cars. All of the emergency exits were blocked off.  The left side of the car had become our ceiling, and it was raining luggage. The mother had been struck on the head with one of the falling pieces. She cried out before collapsing on the ground.   
  
"... Mom?"

 

Alice reached out to the limp form of her guardian. Gently, she rested a hand on her head, but pulled it away quickly. Her entire face drained of color when she saw the blood dripping from her hand. She didn't even see the debris about to hit her.

  
  
  
  
  


The paramedics took a while to arrive. We all thought that this poor little girl was done for. We tried to stop the bleeding with a makeshift tourniquet and she was still breathing, but we all knew that if she didn't get help soon she wasn't going to make it. The paramedics were able to keep her alive, but she clearly wasn't emotionally stable. None of us could blame her.

 

I saw her again after we'd all been evacuated and were being cared for. The corpses of her parents were sent off in body bags. She took one last look at the truck before it left.

  
  


"We need you to answer a few questions, alright?

 

"Okay."

 

"Can you use this pen for us? Can you write your name?"

 

She clicked the ballpoint pen open and simply drew a line.

 

"What's your name?"

 

She didn't answer.

 

"Okay… what's the capital of St. Marine?"

 

"Logan Square."

 

"What's five plus two?"

 

"Seven."

 

"What color is my jacket?"

 

"White."

  
  
  


"She won't respond to anything about her personal life, but she answers everything else just fine."

 

"Sounds like retrograde to me."

 

"Yeah, that's what I think too."

 

"Lemme have a look at her."

 

"Alri-"

 

"... What? What's wrong?"

 

"Sh- she's gone."

 

"What do you mean 'she's gone'?!"

 

"What do you mean what do I mean, she's fuckin gone!"

  
  
  
  
  


".And that was the last any of us saw of her."

 

"... Holy shit."

 

"Did that help you, dear?"

 

"Yes. Yes, it was very helpful. Just… wow."

 

"I hope you can find the poor dear."

 

"I'll… I'll do my best, ma'am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love oc torture :)


	6. Chapter 6

"Four. Can we talk?"

 

I saw her face crinkle into an uncertain expression.

 

"Sure, what's up?"

 

"Listen, I.. I need you to answer me honestly, okay? This is important."

 

"If it's about what we talked about last week, I probably don't remember. I told you everything."

 

"If the answer is 'I don't know', that's okay. Just roll with me here, please?"

 

"I don't see the point in this, but… fine. Okay."

 

This is it. The climax. This was also as far as I had planned. Let's see how royally I fuck it up, eh?

 

"Okay. Does the name Alice mean anything to you?"

 

She thinks for a moment before answering.

 

"Crush 46?"

 

"Wait, what?"

 

"Crush 46. Alice Kwon. She went better than most, in that I eventually got to the confession part. But she was straight."

 

"... Not the Alice I'm thinking of."

 

"Which Alice, then?"

 

"Alice Mahasmutr. Sound familiar?"

 

"Hmm… no, don't think so. Should it?"

 

"Okay, next. What about… this picture?"

 

"Is- Is that me?"

 

"Looks like it, doesn't it?"

 

"Where'd you find that?"

 

"On a missing person report."

 

"... What?"

 

"Alice Mahasmutr went missing 15 years ago after a terrorist attack. This is the picture they provided the world. But nobody ever found her."

 

I have to drop the ball here and now.

 

"Because she's standing right in front of me. And she doesn't remember a thing."

 

"... Marie?"

 

"She was assumed to have died from severe head trauma after fleeing the scene of the crime. Trauma that caused a case of retrograde amnesia. She forgot what happened to her and started anew. And this is where she ended up."

 

"Marie! Slow down!"

 

This was the first time I'd ever seen such genuine fear and panic in her eyes.

 

"... Tell me. Tell me everything you know. Slowly, please."

  
  
  


"Alice Mahasmutr was the victim of a train crash caused by an attack from the terrorist group Megalodon Shiver. Her parents didn't survive the crash, and emergency makeshift medical care from other passengers was all that managed to keep her alive. When the EMTs arrived, they tested her for brain damage and found that she couldn't remember anything from her past. They took her eyes off of her for only a moment, but she ran away in a panic. Law enforcement searched for her, but ultimately declared the case had gone cold. She had likely died shortly after fleeing the scene. But she made it to Inkopolis. For a short time, she lived on the streets, until someone found her and decided to take her in. One Rafaél Katchadorian. Katchy to her. Not being able to remember her name, she made up a new one for herself. Ydelin. And the rest, as they say, is history."

 

"Wh… what the…"

 

"Well?"

 

"G-give me a second."

 

She was completely speechless. Knocked flat. Her wide eyes shook in fear as she wrapped her arms around her chest in a self-hug. … Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

 

"So… my family. They're dead? … No, I won't make you say it again."

 

Yeah, this… this was a bad idea. I feel horrible, and I can only  _ imagine _ how awful she feels.

 

"That… that makes sense."

 

"Does it?"

 

"You went through all that effort to find this… why?"

 

"To be perfectly honest, I just got curious. I thought… maybe it would make you feel better to have the void filled. But with what i found, maybe… maybe it'd be better if I didn't say anything."

 

"No, no… It's not your fault. I… I do feel more… complete, somehow. It all makes sense now. It's just a lot to take in."

 

"Yeah, no kidding. Probably shouldn't have dumped it all on you at once."

 

"Mar. You're fine. It's fine."

 

She takes a deep breath.

 

"You went through all that trouble just to help me. I… I need to come clean."

 

"A-about what?"

 

"I… skipped past some stuff. On purpose. But… you deserve to know."

 

I sit down next to her.

 

"Go ahead. I'm all ears. And remember… I love you. No matter what."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:3c


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hooray for short but heavy chapters!  
> OH HEY UM  
> if you're reading this before i've finished 'What I Deserve' and you'd like to stay 100% spoiler free on the events of later chapters i'd suggest staying away from this for now  
> i was planning on finishing wid before this but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

"No use beating around the bush. I have body issues. Always have. I figured out a while ago that I just have a naturally slow metabolism. That's why I'm built the way I am, it's just how I work. But you know Inklings. Always hyperactive. I never understood why I didn't have the same energy that they did. Why I couldn't be skinny like them. And you know Inkopolis kids, all of your worth is attached to how you look. I was dumb then. I really believed that bullshit.

 

I… I did all kinds of things to myself to try and shape my body into the standard for acceptance. I followed those horrible people, those awful voices. Telling me that nothing tastes better than skinny feels. I bought that shit hook, line, and fucking sinker.

 

It was some kind of horrible mix of anorexia and bulimia. Every calorie was a failure. I had to choke down vitamins every single day just to keep myself alive. This went on for years. I got more than used to the hunger. I got addicted to it. It was all that made me feel like I was accomplishing anything. I stomached the pain, because I knew that if I took a single off day the voice would torture me for weeks on end. I wanted out. I wanted it to just end already. But I couldn't escape it. It had consumed me whole. Ironic.

 

… I was ready to do anything just to let this fucking nightmare end. Lacking a CPAP and a can of helium, I just went with the infamous one. Entire bottle of sleeping pills and half a bottle of tequila down the hatch. It's the most I'd eaten in years.

 

 

… I woke up three months later. I'd gone comatose."

 

As she said those last words I felt my stomach fucking plummet. I couldn't muster up a single thing to say for a good five minutes. I mean, what are you _supposed_ to say to something like that?

 

"... Are you glad you woke up?"

 

She didn't hesitate at all.

 

"Of course. Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me. And I've long since pulled myself out of that horrible mindset. … I promise. Nothing like that is ever going to happen again. But telling you that… it was important to me. I'm not used to emotionally opening up to people like this."

 

"I… don't really know what else I can say. This is heavy shit. I hope you know that, if you're ever feeling down, or if you're just having a bad day or something, I'm here for you. We're all here for you. You're an agent. And, more importantly, you're our friend. And friends look out for each other."

 

"... Thanks, Marie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i almost feel bad  
> almost  
> also google search how to tell google i'm not suicidal i just need to do research for my fic  
> ANYWAY THANK JESUS I'M DONE I CAN FINALLY FORCE MYSELF TO WORK ON THE TWO OTHER FICS I STARTED


End file.
